Improvement in the manufacture of sugar



J. S. OLIVER.

Manufacture of Sugar. NO.l59,525. Patented Feb.,18l75.

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JOHN S. OLIVER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 159,5Q5, dated February 9, 1875; application-filed July 14, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN S. OLIVER, of the city of NewYork, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Manufacturing Sugar; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawing, which makes part of this specification.

My present invention relates to a machine which is intended to take the place of the cen trifugal machines heretofore generally used in the manufacture of sugar to'separate the treacle or uncrystallizable liquid from the sugar which crystallizes in the vacuum-pan, and for cleansing and drying such sugar. My invention consists in the combination of a cylindrical or. other suitably-shaped vessel, a rotary screw or worm adapted to feed the sugar longitudinally through the said vessel, and a blower or other means-for inducing a current or stream of air, steam, water, or other liquid to course or flow throughthe vessel in the op- -posite direction to that in which the sugar is fed through it, whereby the treacle is effectually separated from the crystallized sugar and deposited into a chamber provided for its reception; and the sugar is cleaned and dried before it is discharged from the machine.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a central vertical longitudinal section of a machine embodying my invention; and Fig. 2 is a detail view, on a larger scale, of a portion of its rotary screw or worm.

A designates the body of the machine. In the present instance it is a tubular vessel, and communicates at one end, through a perforated end plate or diaphragm, a, with a treaclechamber, B, which is shown as having a delivery-cock, b,- and at the other end it opens directly into'a sugar-receiving chamber, 0, having an outlet-spout, c, and, also preferably, having a cover, d. I will here remark, however, that this sugar-receiving chamber may be dispensed with, and the crystallized sugar be discharged directly from the open end of the body A, or from a spout, into buckets or other vessels properly placed to receive it. D designates a hopper mountedon the vessel or body A near the end which is next the treaclestood by reference to Fig. 2.

chamber. The said hopper is preferably pro vided at or near its bottom with a slide or valve, 6, so that the supply to the bodyA may be regulated and it may also be provided with a cover, f. E is a man-hole, by means of which access to the inside of the vessel may be had when necessary. G H designate a rotary screw or worm fitting properly within the vessel A, and, preferably, consisting of a rotary shaft, G, and a series of obliquelyarranged blades, H, which latter form the thread or web of the screw or worm, and feed the sugar or other substance through the body to its rear end, where it is discharged. The shaft G is supported in suitable bearings, say as shown at p q. The obliquely-set blades H are, in the present instance, constructed with collars h, which fit upon the shaft G, and are held in place by set-screws i, as will be under- These blades are preferably made with stra ght sides, notched near their hubs h, as shown at g, Fig. 2, to form openings through the web or thread of the screw, whereby the passage of air through the body A is more readily permitted, and the sugar which, in its passage through the said body, comes in contact with the edges of these openings is granulated and prevented from hardening into a solid mass around the shaft Gr or core of the screw. The manner just described of securing the blades H to their shaft allows the several parts or blades forming the web or thread of the screw to be adjusted from or toward each other along the shaft G, or ciroumferentially around the shaft, as may be desirable. At intervals between these obliquely and spirally arranged blades H there are stirring-wings I, which are preferably se cured to the shaft G by hubs and set-screws, in the same manner as the blades H; and one of these wings is preferably arranged close to the end plate, a, to serve as a scraper; and, for the same purpose, one of the blades, as shown at H, may be employed. These wings I, as the screw or Worm rotates, constantly break up or granulate the sugar during its passage through the vessel A, and prevent it from becoming set or hardening into a solid mass.

It is obvious that the screw or worm to be used in this machine may be made in various well known ways; for instance, the shaft, blades, and wings may be cast all in one piece.

J designates an exhaust-blower or rotary pump, by which a current or stream of air, steam, water, or other liquid may be drawn through the "essel A from its rear end forward. In the present instance it is arranged in an inclined tube leading from the treaclechamber B opposite the perforated end plate, a, of the body A. By thus having an inclined tube any treacle or other substance that may be, by the force of the current or stream of air, steam, or liquid, drawn into this tube, will be delivered back into the treacle-chamber B.

It is obvious that instead of an exhaustblower, or in addition thereto, a force-pump, or other air, steam, or liquid propelling device or apparatus, may be used.

By this machine the crystallized sugar and the treacle or uncrystallizable liquid may be properlyand speedily separated, and the sugar cleansed and dried.

The sugary mass to be subjected to the operation of the machine is placed in the hopper D, from which it is fed to the vessel A under control of the slide or vali'e e. The treacle is separated from the crystallized sugar and conveyed, through the perforated end plate, w, illto the treacle-chamber B by the current or stream of air, steam, or liquid which is caused to course or flow through the vessel A from its rear end forward-as, for instance, by the exhaust-blower or pump J. A current of ordinary atmospheric air may be used; but in some cases-lor instance, when it is desirable to clean the sugarsteam, water, or otherliquid may be used advantageously, and, where the sugar needs drying, heated air may be used. The sugar, as the treacle is separated from it, is fed along through the vessel A, by the screw or worm G H, to the rear end of the vessel A, whence it is discharged in directly the reverse direction to that in which the air, steam, or liquid is made to course through it, and the stirrers or wings I lot the said worm or screw agitate it so as to present new particles to the action of the air, steam, or liquid, and to prevent the whole from hardening into a mass; and in this way the sugar may be thoroughly cleansed and dried.

In practice it may be found desirable to arrange the vessel A on an incline in the machine, say from the rear end toward the front end, in order to facilitate the entrance of the treacle into the chamber B.

This machine is a simple one for the purpose for which it is intended. It is not liable to become disordered, and it will perform its work effectively and expeditiously at a less cost than the centrifugal machines before referred to. It is well adapted for drying grain and other like products, and, when employed for this purpose, heated air can be used as the drying medium.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the vessel A, the rotary screw or spiral G H, adapted to feed the contents of the said vessel longitudinally through it, and the air-exhauster J, or other means for inducing a current or stream of air, steam, or liquid to course or flow through the said vessel in the opposite direction to that in which the contents of said vessel are propelled,

substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. The screw or worm composed of the series of blades H, provided with hubs h, which fit upon a rotary shaft, G, and with notches g, a

which form openings through the thread or web of said screw or worm, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

3. The combination, with the screw or spiral G H, of the stirrers or wings I, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

4. The combination, with the. vessel A and screw or Worm H G, of the hopper D and valve 0, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth;

5. The combination, with the diaphragm or perforated end piece, a, of the scrapers H I, one or both, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

6. The combination of the vessel A, worm or screw G H, hopper D, perforated plate a, receptacles B G, and an air exhausting and propelling device, J, substantially as herein specified.

JOHN S. OLIVER.

Witnesses:

EDWIN H. BROWN, A. J. DE LACY. 

